Six people were wounded - one of them critically - in a shooting incident at the West Bank's Route 60 checkpoint south of Jerusalem on Thursday morning (November 16), with police saying all the victims were security staff at the checkpoint.
Police and emergency services revealed that three shooters of Palestinian descent came out of a white Skoda car and started opening fire. Security forces dispatched to the checkpoint quickly returned fire and apprehended the gunmen, two of whom were identified as Hebron-based Hamas members - Abdelqader Qawasmeh (26) and Hassan Qafisha (28), the son of a Hamas commander who was killed in 2003.
Israeli security agency Shin Bet said it was still identifying the identity of the third gunman, but Palestinian media identified him as Nasser Kawasmeh.
All three of the gunmen were killed at the scene.
Police Say Gunmen Were Part of False Flag Attack in Jerusalem
Police told The Times of Israel that the car the gunmen arrived at the scene with had false license plates, as well as a stash of weapons inside the car, including two M16 rifles, two pistols, around 10 loaded magazines, two axes, and extra ammunition. Also found in the vehicle were uniforms resembling those of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
Israel Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai went to the scene on Thursday morning, saying that the shooting indicated that they had planned a much larger-scale terror "massacre" inside Jerusalem, which could be considered as plans for a false flag attack.
In response to the shooting, Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir - a far-right member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's war cabinet - called for the elimination of the Palestinian Authority just as the IDF was aiming to eradicate Hamas in Gaza.
"We need to deal with Hamas in the West Bank - and with the Palestinian Authority, which has similar views to Hamas and its heads identify with Hamas's massacre - exactly like we are dealing with Gaza," he said.
Emergency Services: All Wounded Victims Part of Checkpoint Security
Meanwhile, the Magen David Adom, or the Red Star of David ambulance service, said its medics immediately responded by applying first aid to five of the six victims at the scene, while a man in his 20s was taken to Jerusalem's Shaare Zedek Medical Center in a critical condition.
Two other civilians were also treated at the scene for acute anxiety.
One of the victims was identified as 32-year-old Moshe Mualem, who recalled the attack from his hospital bed in a video. He said he was shot in the leg while he was returning fire on the gunmen while shrapnel from another bullet had hit his wallet, which protected his other leg from being hit.
Security forces eventually ruled out the possibility of additional assailants and explosive devices left at the scene.
All roads leading to the portion of Route 60 known as "tunnels road" were temporarily blocked due to the shooting but were later reopened.
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